When I get a different vehicle I always manage to hit buttons and something shows up on the dash but I don’t know which button to push to fix it. Buttons are like silent switches that are turned on or off sometimes without a sound. And we are not aware of just how they are pushed.
Some people learn what buttons they can push to make us angry, unhappy or manipulate us to get what they want.
We all have things that we should avoid, places or people that stir up wrong passions or desires, things that cause us to lose needed sleep… the liaise can go on and on. Certain things cause us to act in ways that are not good for us either physically or mentally or spiritually. We may suffer if we permit the wrong buttons to be pushed.
For example, there are times in the day when I especially want to eat something I really crave. Satan did that to Adam and Eve, and it worked. They responded to the suggestion he gave them. He tried the same with Jesus, but Jesus would have none of it. He would not accept Satan’s thoughts whether they came through people He loved or from thoughts that Satan directed His way.
What can we do? What provisions has God given us to help with this? We can learn how to make it increasingly difficult for things or people to control our thoughts. Jesus set His mind to think only the thoughts that would please His Father.
I have found that when I feel like my buttons are being pushed I can quote Philippians 4:8,
“Whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, thing about these things.”
This way I know my thoughts will align with God’s directions. I maybe thinking of something that is true but is it also admirable? Is it pure and excellent? If not, I can turn my thoughts towards things that I know God will use to bless others and myself.
Often times we may realize that our thoughts are not even fitting into God’s plan of what we should be thinking about. When we redirect our thoughts, we can sense joy stirring in our hearts.
When we are happy we think of ways to help others to be happy.
From Pity to Praise 